Level Up Fitness

MyNetDiary - Free

Essentially, this is a calorie-counter.  As a personal trainer, I can tell you that getting people accountable for their calories is both necessary & hard to do.

Why The Trainer Likes It:

•  "I forgot my food journal" is no longer an excuse
• Adding what you eat is easier than ever before
• Inline bar code scanner
• If your item isn't already on database, it will be after you enter it once
• Add individual food components to a "recipe" entry to track the calories in your own cooking. (goes into the database just like everything else)
• Tracks, charts, & graphs lots of stats
• % of total calories for each macronutrient (carbs, fat, protein)
• Micronutrients (vitamins, minearls, etc.)
• Weight
• Calories
• BMI (Body Mass Index)
• BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)
• Creates a caloric budget based on your specific height, weight, & goal
• Tracks caloric expenditure (calories burned)
• Can further utilize features at mynetdiary.com

Drawbacks:

• Occasionally, barcode scanner or database will crash
• Free mobile/online app has all the fundamentals but does try to rope you in to various paid versions for more features

The Bottom Line:

This is a solid app.  The price (free) is right and it wouldn't hurt a person to shell out a little dough for MyNetDiary-Pro ($4.99).  That's what I use.  Either way, everything you really need to track a comprehensive fitness routine is in this app.

 

Runkeeper - Free

This app runs a stopwatch in conjunction with location services that track your position on the globe for the duration of your activity.  Running is one of my favorite activities to get clients performing.  With Runkeeper, I can now tell my client exactly how far he/she has run every time and vice-versa.  If running isn't your thing, Runkeeper can also be utilized for a whole bevy of other activities.

 Why The Trainer Likes It:

• Tracks distance & time of past activities
• Tracks elevation climb/drop
• Notifies you when you've improved
• Easily allows you to publish details of your activity to social networking media sites
• Comes pre-loaded with workout plans (with option to buy more)
• 23-week 1/2 marathon training
• 20 Minute Easy Workout
• 2.25 Mile Workout
• 2 Miles with Rest
• Set a Target Pace, etc.
• Choose from at least 13 different activities
• Running, cycling, walking, hiking, skiing, snowboarding, skating, swimming, wheelchair, rowing, elliptical, or input your own
• Set goals and track your progress
• Shows you & your friends (if you want) your entire route plotted on a map when you're finished 

The Bottom Line: 

This is a solid training tool.  I have used it for some time now and haven't experienced any drawbacks.

The content is comprehensive.  The interface is streamlined and intuitive.  It makes it easy for people to get out the door, do what they need to do, and to report it back to me quickly, efficiently, and accurately. 

It effectively brings to the table tools that can be put to good use  by noobs and pros alike.  Cardio wouldn't be the same without it.

Also, as usual, the $$$ price $$$ is right!  Perhaps you are beginning to notice a theme?

 

 

Gym Hero - Free

Gym Hero is a tool for resistance training that lets you record the number of repetitions performed and the weight that you lifted for each set of repetitions.  It might take a little tinkering the first session but, the guided walk-through should iron out most of your questions.  After 1 or 2 sessions, it becomes much quicker and much less cumbersome than carrying around a notebook & pen. 


Once you've entered a workout, it will be pre-loaded the next time you workout.  You can store multiple workouts.

The advantage to this is that you can easily track and see gains in strength and endurance.

After your workout, it summarizes everything you've done at the top of the screen.  

It is very handy for me to easily be able to look at your device and immediately see your exercise volume.  Self-reporting is notoriously vague.  

Anyhoo...  

I hope you've found this list helpful.  This info, if properly applied, will definitely make your workouts more productive.

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You've probably heard someone somewhere talking up the benefits of meditation.  There's not really any escaping it; it's a buzzword.  Studies are showing things like increased brain plasticity, neurological regeneration, improved cognitive performance, and reversal of cardiovascular disease, just to name a few practical results of meditation.

Yoga and meditation are now common among athletes for improved performance.  Meditators of all walks of life attribute the ability to perform better in any situation, increased clarity, calmness, and reduced stress to meditation.

I would do all these folks one better and put it to you that, while yes, these are some very common meditation fringe benefits, these are only milestones on the path to every human's ultimate destiny.  This stuff is small potatoes compared to the real goal:  Enlightenment.

Imagine a state free of attachment and its doppelganger, aversion.  In such a state, desire has ceased to be.  One simply lives completely and fully in the moment, lovingly accepting every single fleeting thing that arises within awareness and then, when the time comes, letting it go; watching it dissolve again.  Without avoiding the things that we tend to dislike and clinging to the things that we tend to like, we are freed to see the beauty and perfection of each moment as it truly is.  We have Santosha, contentment.  We are freed from desire which, truly, frees us from suffering.

For most people, this last part is a little out there simply because most of us are VERY accustomed to having desires and it has never even occurred to us that there is an alternative.  This message is not for everybody but at least now it's occurred to you! 

Now that I've got all the airy-fairy stuff out of the way, lets get back down to Earth: Meditation is beautiful because whatever level of experience you are operating on, it sharpens latent skills and abilities that will enrich your experience as a human.  It nourishes body, mind, and spirit.

"So how do I do it?"

Being a Shaivite (a topic for another day), the method I will recommend is meditating on the initiatory mantra of my lineage, "Om Namah Shivaya" (pronounced: Ohm  Nah-MAH  SHEE-Vie-Yah).


Sitting or lying, with eyes closed and spine straight, recite the mantra internally.  Synchronize it with the breath.  If you are feeling dull, sluggish, tired, etc.:  Repeat the mantra on both the inbreath and outbreath.  If the mind is restless and making it difficult to focus on the mantra, repeat the mantra on the outbreath only.  

When you find that your attention has wandered to something other than the mantra, which it will almost certainly do, be kind to yourself.  Know that that is to be expected.  Simply acknowledge that attention has slipped and redirect it to the mantra.  Repeat as often as necessary.  If you have to redirect your attention 1,000 times in one sitting, that's OK.  This is a class where you get full credit simply for showing up and sitting for the duration.  Proficiency will come with practice.  This should be done for 15 minutes initially, up to 45 minutes and up to 2x/day.

"So what does it mean?"

The potency of the mantra has little to do with its explicit meaning.  The very vibratory quality of the mantra's syllables have an elevating effect on one's consciousness.  If the mantra is received from one who you are taking instruction from because they have already attained enlightenment themselves, the mantra can be considered even more energized; its effect more potent.

If you must know the literal meaning, the most accurate translation from the original Sanskrit is, "I salute consciousness, itself" or, "I bow to the Supreme consciousness in which all is contained; which exists in every thing".

There you have it, folks. everything you need to get started.  If you're interested in experiencing improved physical health, improved mental/psychological well-being, and/or the indescribably blissful transcendent state of true communion with your own spiritual essence, I would highly recommend giving it a shot.  Start right away, before you forget and give it a few weeks.  Then step back and re-evaluate how your life outside of meditation has been going since beginning to really gauge your success.  Happy OM'ing!

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